A Republican Congressman-elect from downstate New York is facing backlash from both sides of the aisle after admissions he lied on the campaign trail about his background and qualifications.

George Santos, who won his election for NY's 3rd Congressional District last month, is now coming clean to the New York Post about his lies, or as he calls them, embellishments. This after the New York Times looked into his background and found no record of his proclaimed work for financial giants like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, that he does not, in fact, have a bachelor's degree of any kind, including one from Baruch College, as he's claimed.

And, there's more:

 

CNN says it asked a professional genealogist to review Santos' heritage and found no evidence of his claims of a Jewish and Ukrainian. Additionally, the outlet reported:

Santos deleted his former private Facebook account last week, but CNN’s KFile reviewed records indicating he used the alias of “Anthony Zabrovsky” for fundraising for a pet charity. The GoFundMe page under that alias no longer exists. CNN reached out to GoFundMe but did not receive a response.

And, it is also reported that school officials at the prestigious Horace Mann Prep School say they have no record of Santos every attending school there, despite repeatedly saying he'd attended the school until just before graduation, but ultimately had to leave the school just before graduation because his family took a massive hit during the 2008 recession.

Top GOP Leaders Attend Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Meeting In Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 18: U.S. Representative-elect George Santos (R-NY) speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership meeting on November 19, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The meeting comes on the heels of former President Donald Trump becoming the first candidate to declare his intention to seek the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential race. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Santos, who is the first openly gay Republican, non-incumbent, to be elected to Congress, spoke to the NY Post this week and admitted to this gem:

...admitted to lying about his religious background, when he described himself in campaign material as a “proud American Jew” and claimed both that his mother was Jewish and that his grandparents fled Nazi persecution.

So, he's not going to Washington, right?

Well, he was elected by the people of the district, regardless of his false claims and misrepresentations. The NY Post notes as much in the article about Santos, saying there is not existing mechanisms in place to punish or recall Santos from office. However, the Nassau County District Attorney, who jurisdiction includes parts of the 3rd Congressional District is vowing to investigate the matter further.

Anne Donnelly, also a Republican, said this, via The Hill amid the revelations about Santos:

“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress. No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”

It remains to be seen if there are more false whoppers from Santos to come. But, in the meantime, Santos is preparing to take office as one of the newest members of the United States Congress.